1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a curtain rod and window shade holder stamped out of a flat piece of metal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a commonly used type of curtain rod and window shade holder, it is necessary to approximately locate the holder on the window frame, mark the location of the desired openings for the screws or other fastening means, remove the bracket, drill the holes and then reapply the bracket with the hope that the holes are in the right place. These brackets are often at an elevated position which makes the drilling of the holes and the subsequent insertion of the screw fasteners difficult. Often, it turns out that the screw openings which have been drilled are not in quite the right position.
As the result of the difficulties with the typical curtain rod and window shade holder, various attempts have been made to align such holders with the edge of the window frame, using the window frame to partially anchor the holder in position. As an example, the Martin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,506,160 shows a metal holder stamped out of sheet metal in which the top of the holder hooks over the window frame. The shade holders are struck out from the sheet metal and in order to make the the shade holders more stable, reinforcing members 11 are also struck out to provide support for the shade holders 14.
The Dick U.S. Pat. No. 1,571,760 shows another arrangement for a window shade and curtain holder which is stamped out of sheet metal. Here, the upper edge is turned over and there are a series of prongs 6 which can be driven into the top of the window frame. The window shade is supported by a pair of forwardly extending arms 9 which are bent outwardly from the lower portion of the metal which is relatively narrow. There would be considerable question as to how rigid these arms would be. The window shade holders are the portion of such a bracket which takes the greatest stress, particularly if the spring within the roller is tightened up so as to insure that the shade returns to its uppermost position.
The McCullough U.S. Pat. No. 1,903,340 shows an arrangement which can also be stamped out of a single sheet of metal. Again, the shade roller supporting arms 13 extend outwardly from the base member and would be less capable of supporting a severe thrust. Furthermore, while McCullough has a prong 15 at the bottom to go into the window casing, he has no means at the top to go over the top of the window casing.
Other patents that are of interest are the Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 1,873,506, the Thomason U.S. Pat. No. 2,706,100, the Mason U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,154 and the Ray U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,912. None of these patents show an arrangement which can be stamped out of a single sheet of metal and which hooks over the top of a window casing.